Zipperless neck entry wetsuit

ABSTRACT

A zipperless neck entry wetsuit provided in this invention comprises a torso portion and limb portions which are connected to and in communication with the torso portion respectively. The torso portion comprises an outer collar and a neck portion. The outer collar surrounds a neck opening defined as the only entryway for a wearer when the outer collar is stretched to expand the neck opening. Also, the periphery of the neck opening is zipperless. The neck portion is arranged in the neck opening and attached to an inner surface of the torso portion for being worn on the wearer&#39;s neck and being folded to cover and seal the neck opening.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This invention relates to a garment, and more particularly to a wetsuit.

2. Description of Related Art

Skin-tight garments such as wetsuits are notoriously difficult to put on, and pose particular difficulties for those who are inflexible and/or have physical disability.

Consequently, in order to improve the aforementioned inconvenience and disadvantages, those in the related industrial fields have developed a wetsuit having a zippered entry opening for providing a larger entryway for a wearer. However, besides through the neck opening of the wetsuit, cold water also can enter or leave the wetsuit via the zipper, decreasing the wetsuit's capability to retain warmth.

Hence, how to effectively provide a wetsuit for solving the aforementioned inconvenience and disadvantages, is considered as one of serious issues to be studied.

SUMMARY

The present invention is to provide a zipperless neck entry wetsuit. By eliminating the zippered entryway of the traditional wetsuit, water never enters and leaves the wetsuit via the zipper so as to prevent the body heat of the wearer from being lost rapidly.

The present invention is to provide a zipperless neck entry wetsuit. By eliminating a zipper of the zippered entryway from the traditional wetsuit, the whole elastic performance of the wetsuit can be improved consequently so as to increase the alacrity of the wear in the zipperless neck entry wetsuit when the wear is diving under the water.

In practice of the present invention, a zipperless neck entry wetsuit comprises four limb portions and a torso portion connected to and in communication with the limb portions, respectively. The torso portion comprises an outer collar and a neck portion. The outer collar surrounds a neck opening. The neck opening is defined as the only entryway for a wearer to enter when the outer collar is stretched to widely expand the neck opening. Also, the periphery of the neck opening is zipperless. The neck portion is arranged in the neck opening and attached to an inner surface of the torso portion, such that the neck portion can be worn on the wearer's neck and cover and seal the neck opening after being folded downwardly.

As mentioned above, in the present invention, since the neck opening (i.e. a main entry of water flow) is covered and sealed by the neck portion, when the wetsuit is completely sunk in water, the water hardly gets into or leaves from the wetsuit via the neck opening, thus, the body heat of the wearer will not be lost easily.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A is a front perspective view of a zipperless neck entry wetsuit of the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a rear perspective view of the zipperless neck entry wetsuit;

FIG. 2A is a front view of an upper part of the zipperless neck entry wetsuit of FIG. 1A before the neck opening is covered;

FIG. 2B is a rear view of the upper part of the zipperless neck entry wetsuit of FIG. 1B before the neck opening is covered;

FIG. 3A is a schematic operation view showing the neck portion of the zipperless neck entry wetsuit being pulled out of the neck opening;

FIG. 3B is a schematic operation view showing the outer collar of the zipperless neck entry wetsuit being stretched to expand the neck opening for being put on a wearer;

FIG. 4A-4D are continual schematic operation views showing that the wearer wears the neck portion and folds the neck cover downwardly to cover the neck opening; and

FIG. 4E is a rear view of the neck cover being folded downwardly to cover the slit and to be fastened on the rear side.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawings.

Refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, FIG. 1A is a front perspective view of a zipperless neck entry wetsuit 100 of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a rear perspective view of the zipperless neck entry wetsuit 100.

As used herein, the term “zipperless” refers to without using a zippered entryway in the wetsuit 100, and it will be understood that the entryway is with no zipper for enlarging the entryway, but other auxiliary zippered structures, such as pockets or leg closures, may still exist and are not limited thereto.

Also, the term “neck entry” used in the specification refers to that the entryway mentioned above is defined on a neck opening 211 of the wetsuit 100 exactly, rather than a back side 202 or a front side 201 of the wetsuit 100. Thus, the wearer 700 puts on the wetsuit 100 from the neck opening 211 of the wetsuit 100. The other terms “front side 201” and “back side 202” used in the specification substantially refer to a front main surface of the wetsuit 100 corresponding to a front side of a wearer 700, and a back main surface of the wetsuit 100 corresponding to a back side of the wearer 700, respectively.

Refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B again, FIG. 1A substantially shows the front side 201 of the wetsuit 100, and FIG. 1B substantially shows the back side 202 of the wetsuit 100.

The zipperless neck entry wetsuit 100 substantially comprises a torso portion 200 and four limb portions which are hollow internally in which the limb portions includes a pair of legs 400 and a pair of arms 500, and the limb portions are connected to and in communication with the torso portion 200, respectively. The entryway mentioned above is zipperless and is defined on a neck of the torso portion 200 between two shoulders 600 of the torso portion 200, namely, the entryway mentioned above is defined to approximate to a neck region 710 of a wearer 700 presented in dotted line. Therefore, the wearer 700 can force the entryway to be expanded to multiple times of its original size, so that the wearer 700 is allowed to step into the wetsuit 100 through the entryway.

The wetsuit 100 is made with a plurality of panels which are made of foam rubber, preferably Neoprene, with at least one inner layer or laminate of fabric for reinforcement, some of the panels being more pliable than others. In particular, certain regions on the upper part of the torso portion 200 are significantly stretchier than a majority of the torso portion 200 of the wetsuit 100 which is made of conventional wetsuit 100 material. Wetsuits 100 are typically constructed entirely of several millimeter-thick (e.g. 2-5 mm) foam rubber sandwiched between two laminates of fabric, inside and outside. The conventional wetsuit material is very durable, and has a high heat insulation capacity.

Refer to FIG. 2A, FIG. 2A is a front view of the upper part of the zipperless neck entry wetsuit 100 of FIG. 1A in a status before the entryway is covered.

Specifically, the torso portion 200 is further provided with an outer collar 210 and a neck portion 300 disposed thereon. The outer collar 210 surrounds to roughly form a neck opening 211 defined as the only entryway for the wearer 700 to entry. The neck opening 211 in a normal status has a circumference approximating to a neck size of the wearer 700. The outer collar 210 is stretchy and made of resilient material mentioned above, such that the outer collar 210 can be stretched to widely expand the neck opening 211 to several times (e.g. 2-3 times) as large as its original size for putting the wetsuit 100 on the wearer 700 via the neck opening 211. In one embodiment, the elongation of the outer collar 210 can reach within a range from 150% to 220% of its original size of the outer collar 210 when been stretched. In another embodiment, the outer collar 210 is stretchy enough to widely expand the neck opening 211 at maximum to a shoulder width or a hip width of the wearer 700. The neck portion 300 is arranged in the neck opening 211, and has a bottom opening 321 which can be pulled out of the neck opening 211 for being put on a neck 710 (FIG. 1A) of the wearer 700.

Particularly, in one embodiment, the neck portion 300 comprises a neck cover 310 and a funnel shaped liner 320. The funnel shaped liner 320 is disposed inside the torso portion 200 of the wetsuit 100, and neighboring to the neck opening 211. Specifically, the so-called bottom opening 321 is disposed on one end of the funnel-shaped liner, and a part of one end of the funnel-shaped liner is attached to an inner surface of the back side 202 of the wetsuit 100 (i.e. torso portion 200), and the remaining part of the end of the funnel-shaped liner 320 is not attached to the wetsuit 100 (i.e. torso portion 200).

The neck cover 310 is presented as a tubular shape, and has a circumference similar to a neck size of the wearer 700. The neck cover 310 is made of resilient material mentioned above, such that the neck cover 310 can be stretched over the head of the wearer 700 for compassing the neck 710 of the wearer 700 tightly.

Furthermore, in the embodiment, an inner circumferential surface 311 of the neck cover 310 is made of a first material (e.g. fiber), and an outer circumferential surface 312 of the neck cover 310 is made of a second material (e.g. smooth skin made of rubber) which is different from the first material, and the friction coefficient of the second material is greater than the friction coefficient of the first material.

In one option of the embodiment, the outer collar 210 of the torso portion 200 can be furnished with an anti-slip strip 212. The anti-slip strip 212 is presented as a long and narrow piece, and is made of a high friction material (e.g. silicone, PE, rubber or resin etc.). In a preferring embodiment, the friction coefficient of the anti-slip strip 212 is greater than the friction coefficient of the first material and second material. The anti-slip strip 212 is transversely arranged on the outer surface of the outer collar 210 along the periphery of the neck opening 211.

Further, the expandable capability of the anti-slip strip 212 is worse than the expandable capability of the outer collar 210, so that the anti-slip strip 212 hinders the outer collar 210 from permanent deformation when the outer collar 210 is stretched to extremes by the wearer 700. Similar, the recovery capability of the anti-slip strip 212 is better than the recovery capability of the outer collar 210, so that the anti-slip strip 212 can facilitate the outer collar 210 being recovered quickly when the outer collar 210 is no longer stretched by the wearer 700.

Furthermore, the aforementioned anti-slip strip also can be transversely arranged either on the inner surface or the outer surface of the outer collar 210 along the periphery of the neck opening 211 instead of only on the outer surface of the outer collar 210, the present invention is not limited thereto, and in other of the inventive aspects can readily be adapted to two aforementioned anti-slip strips are both transversely arranged on the inner surface and the outer surface of the outer collar 210 along the periphery of the neck opening 211.

Refer to FIG. 2B, FIG. 2B is a rear view of the upper part of the zipperless neck entry wetsuit of FIG. 1B before the neck opening is covered.

As observed from the back side 202 of the wetsuit 100, a slit 213 is formed longitudinally on the back side of the outer collar 210, namely, the slit 213 is extended according to a direction from the neck cover 310 towards the back side 202 of the torso portion 200, so that two panels 214 are separated by the slit 213.

In particular, two identical-directional ends of the panels 214 both opposite to the neck cover 310 are overlapped with each other, and therefore, when the outer collar 210 is stretched to expand the neck opening 211, a stretching force on the outer collar 210 may be distributed towards two directions of the shoulders 600 of the torso portion 200 so as to prevent from tearing on the outer collar 210.

As still observed from the back side 202 of the wetsuit 100, the neck cover 310 is provided with a tongue 330 as well. The tongue 330 is disposed at a free end on a back side of the neck cover 310 opposite to the neck opening 211 when the neck cover 310 has not folded downwardly.

In another embodiment, at least one first fastener 331 (e.g. Velcro or buckle) is disposed on the outer surface of the tongue 330, and two second fasteners 215 (e.g. Velcro or buckle) are disposed on the outer surface of the two panels 214, respectively. Thus, the first fastener 331 is used to fix on both the second fasteners 215 when the neck cover 310 is folded downwardly.

Refer to FIG. 3A to FIG. 3B, FIG. 3A is a schematic operation view showing the neck portion 300 of the zipperless neck entry wetsuit 100 being pulled out of the neck opening 211; and FIG. 3B is an schematic operation view showing the outer collar 210 of the zipperless neck entry wetsuit 100 being stretched to expand the neck opening 211 for receiving a wearer 700.

When the wearer 700 desires to put on the wetsuit 100, the wearer 700 wears the wetsuit 100 according to the following steps:

Step 1: Pulling the neck portion 300 out of the neck opening 211. In particular, the neck portion 300 is pulled out of the neck opening 211 and flipped towards a direction R1 of back side 202 of the wetsuit 100 (FIG. 3A), thus, the bottom opening 321 of the neck portion 300 can be moved out of the neck opening 211; and

Step 2: Stretching the outer collar 210 to widely expand the neck opening 211 to approximate a proper width, e.g. a shoulder width or a hip width of the wearer 700, according to two opposite directions D1 and D2 from the neck opening 211 towards the shoulders 600 of the torso portion 200, respectively, so that the wearer 700 is allowed to get into the wetsuit 100 through the neck opening 211.

Be aware of step 2, since the expandable capability of the anti-slip strip 212 is worse than the expandable capability of the outer collar 210, the anti-slip strip 212 can protect the outer collar 210 from permanent deformation, and also, after the outer collar 210 is no longer being stretched, the outer collar 210 shrinks and recovers to its original size. Since the recovery capability of the anti-slip strip 212 is better than the recovery capability of the outer collar 210, the anti-slip strip 212 can facilitate the outer collar 210 to recover quickly.

Refer to FIG. 4A to FIG. 40, FIG. 4A-4D are continual schematic operation views showing that the wearer wears the neck portion and folds the neck cover downwardly to cover the neck opening.

After the wearer 700 gets into the wetsuit 100, and the legs and the arms of the wearer 700 correctly extend into the legs 400 and arms 500 of the limb portions, and the wearer 700 wears the neck portion 300 according to the following steps:

Step 1: Putting the neck cover 310 on the neck 710 of the wearer 700 through the head of the wearer 700 via the bottom opening 321 of the neck portion 300 (FIG. 4A-FIG. 4B).

Specifically, first, flipping the neck portion 300 towards a direction R2 of the front side 201 of the wetsuit 100 (FIG. 4A), next, putting on the neck 710 of the wearer 700 with the neck portion 300 through the bottom opening 321 of the neck portion 300 over the head of the wearer 700 downwardly (i.e. direction D3). (FIG. 4B)

Step 2: Arranging the funnel shaped liner 320 to totally stay inside the torso portion 200 and underneath the neck opening 211 (FIG. 2A), thus, the funnel shaped liner 320 substantially fits and contacts the inner surface of the torso portion 200 of the wetsuit 100 (See FIG. 2A).

Step 3: outwardly and downwardly (i.e. direction D3) folding the neck cover 310 towards the neck opening 211 in order to cover the neck opening 211 with the folded part of the neck cover 310 (FIG. 4C, FIG. 4D).

After the neck cover 310 is folded outwardly and downwardly to cover the neck opening 211 of the outer collar 210 with the folded part of the neck cover 310 (FIG. 4D), a periphery of the folded part of the neck cover 310 completely covers the periphery of the neck opening 211 of the outer collar 210, and the anti-slip strip 322 presses the outer surface of the folded part of the neck cover 310 to seal the neck opening 211.

Meanwhile, refer to FIG. 2B and FIG. 4E, FIG. 4E is a rear view of the neck cover 310 being folded downwardly to cover the slit 213 and to be fastened on the rear side.

Since the neck cover 310 is folded outwardly and downwardly, the tongue 330 is directed downwardly to cover the slit 213 (FIG. 2B) as well, and also, the tongue 330 can be fixed on both the second fasteners 215 with the first fastener 331 (FIG. 4E).

Therefore, since the neck opening 211 of the outer collar 210 is covered and unexposed by the folded part of the neck cover 310, and the tongue 330 is fixed on the panels 214 and covers the slit 213 (FIG. 2B), thus, when the wetsuit 100 is moved into the water, it cuts down the possibilities of the water flowing around inside the wetsuit, and the possibilities of the water entering and leaving from the neck opening 211, and thus, the body heat of the wearer 700 will not be lost easily. Further, since the zipperless neck entry wetsuit 100 of the present invention is no longer provided with a zipper of the zippered entryway thereon, it might make the wear 700 feels more comfortable in the zipperless neck entry wetsuit 100, and the whole elastic performance of the zipperless neck entry wetsuit 100 can be improved consequently so as to increase the alacrity of the wear 700 in the zipperless neck entry wetsuit 100 when the wear 700 is swimming under the water.

Also, since the anti-slip strip 212 provides a friction with the outer surface of the neck cover 310, the anti-slip strip 212 can keep the outer surface of the neck cover 310 staying within the neck opening 211 tightly, and thus, it further lowers the possibility of water entering and leaving from the neck opening 211.

Even though the zipperless wetsuit in the drawings are shown and described in conjunction with a full-body suit, the present invention is not limited thereto, and many of the inventive aspects can readily be adapted to other styles, such as spring suits with short sleeves or short trousers.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with this specification and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A zipperless neck entry wetsuit, comprising: a plurality of limb portions; and a torso portion connected to and in communication with the limb portions respectively, the torso portion comprising: an outer collar surrounding a neck opening, wherein the neck opening is defined as the only entryway for a wearer when the outer collar is stretched to expand the neck opening, and the periphery of the neck opening is zipperless; and a neck portion arranged in the neck opening and attached to an inner surface of the torso portion for being worn on the wearer's neck and being folded downwardly to cover and seal the neck opening.
 2. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 1, wherein the neck opening has a circumference approximating to the neck size of the wearer.
 3. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 1, wherein the outer collar is made of a resilient material, such that the outer collar is able to be stretched to expand the neck opening to at least two times of the original size of the neck opening.
 4. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 3, wherein the outer collar is stretchy enough to expand the neck opening at maximum to the shoulder width or the hip width of the wearer.
 5. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 1, wherein the neck portion comprises: a neck cover extending outwards to the neck opening for compassing the neck of the wearer, wherein after one end of the neck cover is folded, the periphery of the neck cover covers and seals the neck opening.
 6. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 5, wherein the neck cover comprises: an inner surface with a first material; and an outer surface with a second material, wherein the friction coefficient of the second material is greater than the friction coefficient of the first material.
 7. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 6, wherein the torso portion further comprises: an anti-slip strip arranged on the outer collar along the periphery of the neck opening, wherein after the neck cover is folded downwardly to cover and seal the neck opening, the anti-slip strip presses the outer surface of the neck cover to seal the neck cover.
 8. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 7, wherein the friction coefficient of the anti-slip strip is greater than the friction coefficient of the first material.
 9. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 7, wherein the expansion capability of the anti-slip strip is worse than the expansion capability of the outer collar.
 10. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 7, wherein the recovery capability of the anti-slip strip is better than the recovery capability of the outer collar.
 11. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 5, wherein the neck portion further comprises: a funnel shaped liner disposed in the torso portion, wherein a part of one end thereof attached to the inner surface of a back side of the torso portion, and the remaining part of the end thereof is free to attach the torso portion; and the other end thereof is connected to the neck cover inside the torso portion.
 12. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 7, wherein the outer collar comprises: a slit formed longitudinally on the back side of the outer collar; and two panels are separated by the slit, wherein two ends of the panels both neighboring the torso portion are overlapped with each other.
 13. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 11, wherein the neck portion further comprises: a tongue disposed at a free end on the back side of the neck cover opposite to the neck opening, wherein after the neck cover is folded downwardly, the tongue covers the slit.
 14. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 13, wherein the neck portion further comprises: a first fastener is disposed on an outer surface of the tongue; and the outer collar further comprises: two second fasteners disposed on outer surfaces of the panels, respectively, wherein when the neck cover is folded downwardly, both the second fasteners are fixed by the first fastener.
 15. A zipperless neck entry wetsuit comprising: an outer collar surrounding a neck opening defined as the only entryway for a wearer to entry, having a circumference approximating to the neck size of the wearer, and the outer collar made of a resilient material capable of being stretched to expand for receiving the wearer into the wetsuit via the neck opening; and a neck cover extending outwards from the neck opening, made of a resilient material for being stretched over the head of the wearer to receive the neck of the wearer, wherein when one end of the neck cover is folded downwardly to the neck opening, the periphery of the end of the neck cover covers and seals the neck opening.
 16. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 15, wherein the outer collar is stretchy enough for to expand the neck opening at maximum to the shoulder width or the hip width of the wearer.
 17. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 15, wherein the neck cover extends outwards from the neck opening, wherein after folding one end of the neck cover downwardly, the periphery of the neck cover completely covers the neck opening.
 18. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 17, wherein the neck cover comprises: an inner surface with a first material; and an outer surface with a second material, wherein the friction coefficient of the second material is greater than the friction coefficient of the first material.
 19. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 18, wherein the torso portion further comprises: an anti-slip strip arranged on the outer collar along the periphery of the neck opening, wherein after the neck cover is folded downwardly to cover the neck opening, the anti-slip strip presses the second material of the outer surface of the neck cover and limits the movement of the neck cover to seal the neck cover.
 20. The zipperless neck entry wetsuit according to claim 17, wherein the neck portion further comprises: a tongue disposed at a free end on the back side of the neck cover opposite to the neck opening, wherein after the neck cover is folded downwardly, the tongue covers the slit. 